1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a semiconductor light emitting device.
2. Description of the Related Art
A semiconductor light emitting device such as a light emitting diode (LED) is manufactured by depositing semiconductor layers having different electrical and optical characteristics on a wafer so as to have a laminated structure, and performing etching and patterning processes thereupon.
These semiconductor layers are generally formed by depositing an epitaxial thin film on a wafer, a growth substrate provided within a chemical vapor deposition apparatus. A vertical type nitride semiconductor light emitting device is manufactured by separating laminated semiconductor layers formed by deposition, as described above, from the growth substrate.
The semiconductor growth substrate from which the semiconductor layer has been separated may be provided to a separate apparatus, subjected to a recycling process, and then reused as a substrate for growing semiconductor layers. In this case, since a portion of a semiconductor layer may remain on a surface of the growth substrate, a process for removing the portion of the semiconductor layer should be performed.
In the case of a generally used method of recycling a wafer through physical polishing, a surface of the wafer may also be partially removed, together with a residue of the semiconductor layer, such that an upper surface of the wafer may be damaged, a thickness of the wafer may be reduced, and additional residue and by-products may be generated on the wafer.
In addition, in the case of a method of chemically removing a residue of the semiconductor layer through immersion, since a cleaning process for removing a chemical immersion solution should be additionally performed, a process may become complicated and processing times may be increased. Further, the use of a toxic chemical solution may cause an environmental pollution problem. Furthermore, recycling costs such as costs required for an additional treatment facility and the like, may be increased as compared to costs required for manufacturing new wafers.